Current mail production operations have seen many changes and trends over the past decade, including increases in costs, shrinking margins, lower volumes, market consolidation, changing postal regulations, and increased competition. What has remained constant, however, is the need to produce communication pieces that derive a desired response, and are produced with integrity and in a highly automated and efficient manner.
The current systems that mailers use for creating the majority of their work range from low-speed inserters with no intelligence to high-speed finishing systems that are intelligent and connected to some form of an automated document factory. The systems used are typically determined by the application being processed and the capital investment available for growth.
Existing inserting systems have many factors that determine their overall speed and efficiency. Even high-end systems have limitations that prevent them from realizing their maximum potential. These limitations include: the number of supported input channels; the speed at which materials are personalized and assembled; and the number of stops from jams or other errors; the rate at which inserts can be added. The lack of a continuous flow of material through the inserter due to the requirement to have a stationary envelope at the point where material is inserted into the envelope is a factor in achieving high throughput and a low rate of jam stops.
Current document processing approaches involve creating a document, such as a statement, to be folded and inserted into a pre-manufactured envelope. The envelope is frequently windowed to allow the address printed on the document to be seen through the window. This approach is favored for personal mail versus printing the address after the mailpiece manufacture is completed. The window approach is used to insure that the contents of the mailpiece and address match. In addition, coupons and inserts are separately printed and cut and matched with the document prior to insertion into the windowed envelope. Frequently, a return mail envelope is separately manufactured and inserted into the envelope with the other material. This process and inserter system are very complex with multiple feeders and cutters and numerous pieces of material that need to be manufactured in separate processes and loaded numerous times on to the inserter.
In addition to improving the document processing system, there is frequently additional cost associated with material that is included in the mailpiece. For example, the return envelope needs to be a #10 in size since the slip/stub that is must be returned is the full width of the statement.
Hence a need exists for a mail preparation process that uses a prepared group of forms printed on a continuous paper roll which is processed on a wrapping document processing system that eliminates the separate steps mentioned above and allows for a smaller integrated return slip that will fit in a reply envelope that is smaller in size such as a #7 reply envelope.